アントネッロ - Anthonello Official Site - English

The early music ensemble Anthonello is named after the 14th century composer Anthonello da Caserta, and was founded with the view to performing early music in the spirit of the period. Each of the members is a soloist in her or his own right, and also has wide experience of performing with leading musicians in various parts of the world.

Since its inception in 1994, the ensemble has gained a worldwide reputation for the excellence of its playing and for its interpretative flair. The members of the ensemble are the leader Yoshimichi Hamada (cornetto and recorder), Kaori Ishikawa (viola da gamba), and Marie Nishiyama (harpsichord and harp). Anthonello makes much of "the spirit of the period" when early music was composed, and makes clear the essential charm of music which is endowed with much animation and liveliness (that is, "spontaneity" in the jazz world). Anthonello's stage performances and recordings are full of improvisations which early music most certainly incorporated, as opposed to the traditional playing style that is often tied to the conservative viewpoints of the late-20th century's classical music. The target of Anthonello's performance is a creation of "open-hearted" early music; and to this end, the members obtain many hints from ethnic music of various countries and contemporary popular music. Anthonello's recordings to date have been highly regarded in domestic media. Anthonello has also attracted the attention of overseas eyes, and has released 2 CDs from Symphonia label (Italy) and one from BIS label (Sweden), which have all been awarded Five Stars by the "Diapason" of France. Anthonello is lauded among other European musical critics, winning such awards as the Recommended Disk (the "Repertoire*", France) and the Most Highly Recommended Album (the "CD", Italy). In 2006, Anthonello founded its own new label "Anthonello MODE", and all of the recordings are highly praised within Japanese Music Magazines, Newspapers and popularly.

- "Their performing style will be a 'mode' from now on" ("Repertoire", France)

- "New wave of early music performance from Japan" ("Diapason", France)

Recorder & Cornett

The great-grandson of the founder of Japan's first private music university, Toyo Music University (now Tokyo Music University), Yoshimichi Hamada was born in Tokyo and is a fourth-generation musician. He studied trumpet and recorder (with Kazuo Hanaoka) at Toho Gakuen University. After graduating he won a scholarship from the Swiss government and entered the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis to study with Bruce Dickey (cornett), Crawford Young and Dominique Verart (medieval music theory). While in Europe, he collaborated with leading groups and musicians such as the Concerto Palatino, Ensemble PAN, and Ensemble la Fenice. At the invitation of Concert Vocale directed by Rene Jacobs, he returned to Europe in 1996 for performances including P. F. Cavalli's opera "Calisto" at the Berlin National Opera house (Staatsoper Unter den Linden), Claudio Monteverdi's opera "Orfeo" conducted by Gabriel Garrido with ensemble Elyma at the open-air theater in Palermo, Italy. He has served appointments as recorder instructor at the Early Music Department of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, resident artist of "Mejiro Ba-Rock Music Festival" in 2006 and 2007, and musical director of "Bungo Renaissance Music Festival" since 2004. He is a member of Historic Brass Society in America, musical director and conductor of vocal group "La Voce Orfica", and leader of early music ensemble "Anthonello".

Viola da Gamba

Kaori Ishikawa started to play viola da gamba under Toshinari Ohashi when she was a student of Yamanashi University. After graduating, she entered the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and studied with Jordi Savall, Polo Pandolfo and Masako Hirao (viola da gamba), Randall Cook (fidel), and Christophe Coin, Hopkinson Smith and Conrad Steinmann (ensemble). She also had lessons by Wieland Kuijken and Lorenz Duftschmid. She has served as an instructor at Yamanashi University. With collaborations including artists such as Enrico Gatti and William Dongois, she is an active soloist and continuo player internationally.

Cembalo＆Harp

Marie Nishiyama graduated from the piano department of Tokyo Music University, and also received her master's degree in cembalo there. She studied under Yoshio Watanabe (cembalo) and Yoshiko Ueda (organ). She entered the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis to study with Rinaldo Alessandrini and Nicolau de Figueiredo (cembalo), Heidrun Rosenzweik and Mara Galassi (historical harp), Jesper Christensen (Basso continuo, ensemble), and Pedro Memelsdorff (medieval ensemble). Among other awards and accolades, she won first prize in the 11th Yamanashi Early Music Festival for her cembalo performance. She is a member of "Anthonello", and an accomplished international soloist in both cembalo and historical harp. She also has been involved in many recordings not only in Japan but also in European countries including Italy and Spain. Her highly acclaimed original recording "Taner Fantasia - Spanish keyboard music" (released 1999 in Japan) made its Spain release in 2003, and was chosen as the most recommended CD by a Spanish journal. Each of her solo albums, "Dance du Roy et Chonson " (renaissance harp), "Lamento di Tristano" (medieval gothic harp), "Jupiter - Les orages des passions - Forqueray Pieces de Clavecin" and "J. S. Bach French Suites" (cembalo) has continued to receive high praise and recommendation from many Japanese journals and newspapers. Since 2007, she has released a series of J. S. Bach's main keyboard works under the "Anthonello Mode" label.

Her official site:http://marienishiyama.com/